1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the utilization of the degradation of organic matter to produce usable heat energy and fertilizer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is estimated that the amount of energy released annually on earth from biomass is thirty times the amount released by all man-made machines. The biological flow of energy, however, generally proceeds unobtrusively. Organic material, finely divided in the humus layer of the soil or in water, is decomposed by organisms with the evolution of heat back into the starting materials.
The decaying processes which take place, for example, over a large area in the scattered layer of the forest floor, can, however, be concentrated. It is for this reason that every gardener is advised to collect plant waste in stacked heaps having a volume of approximately two cubic meters in order to achieve, by such concentration, a high degree of heat and a vigorous rotting, resulting from the combined effects of the many material and energy conversions taking place. Some organic materials, such as, straw or wood waste, must be heaped in even larger amounts and require nitrogen-containing materials to be mixed in in order to initiate a vigorous, hot rotting.
Most natural processes proceed more rapidly at higher temperature levels than at lower ones. This is also true for humification. The heat which develops in the center of the compost heap indicates a vigorous metabolic selectivity of thermophilic micro-organisms. Along with the degradation and conversion of the organic substances, the high temperature also has certain positive aspects. Thus, it becomes too hot for the development of fruit flies and other unwelcome diptera. Various stages of parasites, plant pathogens and pathogenic micro-organisms are put at a disadvantage in the hot rotting material and are killed as are the seeds of weeds, if the heating is sufficiently strong and penetrates the mass.